Aru Shah and the City of Gold - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,58

her sisters’ voices calling her name.

Aru woke up to a world that could only exist in a dream.

It was a cool, dark forest. All the trees were tall and silver. When the wind rustled through their shimmering leaves, it sounded like tinkling bells. The “sky” wasn’t sky at all, but sunlight shining through water. It reminded Aru of the times she’d gone swimming outside, opened her eyes underwater, and looked up. Yes, it stung, but the view was like watching a crystal melt.

Beside Aru, one of the twins, Sheela, lay on her side, dragging her hand through a river thick with stars. She glanced at Aru and grinned happily. “Oh good! You’re here!”

“Where am I supposed to be?” asked Aru.

Her memories felt a little hazy. She remembered the table. The weird cauldron. She recalled a strange sensation in her chest, like drinking a long, slow glug of perfectly cold water. She had woken up just as Brynne slumped into unconsciousness. Aru hadn’t known what to do, but Aiden had. He’d poured Brynne’s soul back into her chest with one scoop of his ladle.

And now Aru was here.

Which meant that, back in the real world, she was fast asleep.

Or maybe unconscious again?

“I took charge of your dream before you could turn it into Home Depot,” said Nikita, stepping out from behind one of the trees. She was wearing a crown of tiny stars that winked and lazily circled her forehead.

“I don’t always dream of Home Depot,” grumbled Aru.

“Uh-huh,” said Nikita.

There was a slight pop! beside Aru, and suddenly Brynne and Mini were standing on her left. Aru jumped to her feet. Mini looked unfazed. Brynne stumbled forward, heaving deep breaths. She looked between Aru and Mini, her eyes wide in shock. Aru was glad to see her, but to be honest, she was still grumpy that Brynne had gotten them into that mess and had been a massive grouch ever since they left Lanka, so if Brynne wasn’t going to be nice, then—

“You’re okay!” yelled Brynne, hug-tackling her Pandava sisters.

Aru was so stunned she almost fell over.

“Okay, that’s a lot of contact,” said Mini.

“There’s no germs in dreams,” said Brynne, hugging them tighter.

Mini relented.

“Plus, it looked like all of our souls were mixing together in that gross cosmic fondue thing, anyway, so it’s probably too late,” said Aru.

Brynne hugged the twins next. “Are you practicing those moves I taught you?” she asked when she let go.

“Yes,” said Nikita.

“I think about practicing,” said Sheela dreamily. “But I don’t really like physical exertion….”

“If you don’t practice, then you won’t improve at fighting!” said Mini. “You do know there’s a battle heading our way, don’t you?”

“There are other ways to fight,” said Sheela primly.

“Starting with a war on being basic,” said Nikita, critically eyeing the others’ clothes and rubbing her fingers and thumb together as if trying to wipe off something nasty. “No worries, I’ll have different wardrobes sent to you after this.”

“Practice,” said Brynne, hands on her hips. “Now.”

Nikita rolled her eyes but hauled Sheela to her feet. They moved some distance away and ran through the same sparring and defensive techniques that Boo had once taught the older girls.

While the twins were out of earshot, Mini turned to Brynne. “You are acting super strange. Did you hit your head? This might be a symptom of a concussion or—”

“I’m sorry about how I acted earlier,” blurted Brynne.

Aru’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. Brynne admitting she’d done something wrong? Maybe Mini’s concussion theory wasn’t that far off the mark. Brynne took a deep breath before turning to Aru.

“I really wanted you to be wrong about Subala, Aru,” said Brynne. “I think…I think I needed you to be wrong. Now it’s just…confusing. If the Sleeper isn’t totally evil, and Boo isn’t totally great, then what do we do? Whose side are we really on?”

Before Aru could answer, Mini chimed in.

“Our own,” she said.

There was something so simple and true about it that Aru felt a weight lifting off her chest. Sometimes their enemies, like Lady M, had ended up being more like a person the Pandavas should help rather than a person they should hurt. Sometimes their allies, like Boo, had ended up hurting them when they should’ve helped. The only thing Aru could count on was her family.

“We will always be on the same side,” said Aru.

“And we’re all together, which is just as important,” said Mini, smiling at Aru, Brynne, and the twins.

Sheela paused in the middle of her practice and tilted her